Footwear article



Aug- 28, 1934. H. PQ MANVILLE 1,971,456

' `Focrrvmlm ARTICLE Filel Des.- 1s. 1929 y.4. A n

um *s703103 a l ille' Patented Aug. 28, '1934 FOOTWEAR ARTICLE Henrietta. Porr Manville, New Haven, Conn., as-

signor to The Goodyears India Rubber Glove Mfg. Company, Naugatuck, Conn., a corporation Application December 13, 1929, Serial No. 413,735 3 Claims. (Cl. 36 7.3)

This invention relates in general to footwear and more particularly to overshoes of the gaiter ype.

According to previous practice, gaiters have 5 been provided with an opening down the front or side of the upper to facilitate introduction and removal of the foot, tle opening being closable by buttons, or a slider operating a pair of inter-A locking elements secured tothe opposite edges of the opening. In some-cases gaiters ofthis character were provided with a'cui having a tab which was held to therside of theIgaiter by a buckle or snap fastener. l

In the interest of neatness, lightness, and to secure novelty in appearance, and also to reduce the manufacturing cost of footwear of this type, it has been found desirable to eliminate the opening and its fastening devices vwhile still providing satisfactory means for allowing the foot to be '20 easily inserted into and removed from the gaiter,

Accordingly, the upper of the present invention is of unbroken construction. It is made of extensible material, such as knitted fabric possessing a high degree of stretch and provided preferably on its outer surface with a relatively thin lprotective coating of highly elastic rubber composition. The gaiter is preferably-provided with a relatively high leg encircling portion which is adapted when extended to fit snugly around the leg, and which may be folded down so as to form a cuff, in which latter case the knitted fabric appearing on the outside of the gaiter simulates the appearance of a turned down sock, thus affording `style effect. Owing to the elasticity of the rubber coated knit fabric, the foot may be easily introduced and removed from the gaiter by stretching, and, by reason of the contraction around the foot and leg the gaiter presents a neat and snug fitting appearance and entirely dispenses with the need of the lopening as heretofore, or the use of buckles, straps or other adjusting devices for the leg and the cuff.

For a more detailed understanding 'of the features of construction and advantages of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing and the following specification, in which:` Fig. v1 is a vertical section of a gaiter made in 'accordance with the present invention; V Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line `22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section Aon the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; l y

Fig. 4 is a view showing the gaiter on the foot with the leg portion fully extended for maximum protection;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the leg portion folded 4down to form a cuil; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view representing a piece of knitted or` elastic fabric provided with a thin coating of elastic rubber composition.

Referring vrst to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the reference numeral 1 indicates generally a gaiter which is composed of a foot portion or -vamp 2 and a leg portion 3 overlapped adjacent the in step, as indicated at 4 and adhesively united together to form an upper.

In the manufacture of the gaiter, an extensible fabric 5 possessing a gr'eat amount of inherent stretch, such as knit worsted fabric, is coated preferably by a calender coating operation with a relatively thin layer of highly elastic rubber composition 6 adapted to provide a Waterproof protective coating. As is Well known in the art, in calender coating the plastic rubber is applied in a sheet to the fabric by means of cooperating calender rolls running at even peripheral speed, and in consequence the union between the rubber sheet and fabric is a superficial one, while in contrast with this, in friction coating, the rolls turn -at uneven peripheral speeds and the uneven action of such rolls causes the rubber to be frictionally driven deeply into the fabric interstices.

'I'he rubber composition 6 is compounded so -as to possess a high degree of stretch when cured, and it has been found that the following ingredients and proportions are suitable for such a coating:

Lbs.

Pale crepe rubber 52 Sulphur A E 3A Dinitro phenyl dimethyl dithio-carbamate e Zinc oxide 3 Yellow iron oxide 21/2 Red iron oxide 3 Soft carbon black 1% the way around the bottom for lasting, and the forward margin of the leg encircling portion 3 is lapped with the rear margin of the foot portion 2 and covered with a thin strip of rubber reinforcement 8 over the instep. The two back edges of the leg portion 3 are overlapped and cemented together as indicated at 9, and, over the seam there is applied a strip of friction tape and rubber 10. The upper is thus of unbroken construction and the leg portion 3 is substantially tubular. The upper is then pulled over a last, the bottom edges of the portions 2 and 3 which form the upper are then lasted on to an insole 11, and a ioxing strip l2 and guin heel piece 13 are applied to the upper on the last. A filler sole lll and an outsole 15 are then applied according to usual practice and the shoe is then vulcanized. The wales or ribs of the knitted upper extend lengthwise of the leg and the foot of the wearer, preferably as shown Y in Fig. l, and consequently have their greatest stretch transversely of the leg and the foot thereby permitting easy insertion and Withdrawal of the foot from the shoe.

The provision of a highly extensible or elastic fabric in combination with a highly elastic rubber protective coating on the outside of the fabric provides a gaiter which presents a neat appearance, is extremely light in weight, and, due to its extreme simplicity, eliminates the usual opening at the front of the gaiter and its fastening devices, and the cost of manufacture is accordingly less than heretofore .in the production of overshoes of this type. In putting this gaiter on the foot it is necessary only to stretch the leg and foot portions to a degree suicient to allow the foot to slip down into wearing position, after which the natural contraction -of the knit fabric in combination with the elasticity of the rubber covering contracts the parts snugly around the foot and leg, as illustrated in Fig. 4l, thereby laffording maximum protection, and form-fitting the foot. The leg portion may also be folded down, as indicated in Fig. 5, to form a cui 16, in which case the fabric appearing on the outside of the gaiter presents the appearance of a turned down sock.

It is to be understood that various slight changes may be made in the construction of the various parts Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore intended to cover by the appended claims such changes as may be reasonably included within the scope thereof,

Having thus described my invention, what claim and desireto protect by Letters Patent is:

l. As a new article of manufacture, an overshoe comprising a foot portion and a leg portion both of unbroken construction joined together adjacent the instep to form an upper, the leg portion including two edges `ioined together at the back and being of tubular formation adapted to be folded down to provide a cui, said upper being composed of knitted fabric provided with a relatively thin surface coating of elastic rubber composition.

2. fl-.s a new article of manufacture, an overshoe having an extensible upper coated on its outside surface only with a relatively thin layer of elastic waterproofing composition, said entire extensible upper comprising ribbed knitted fabric including a tubular leg portion in which the ribs oi' the fabric extend lengthwise of the Wearers leg, and a vamp in which the ribs extend substantially lengthwise ofthe foot, said tubular portion being foldable down-over the outside of the coated upper to form a cuand thereby expose the knitted fabric on the outside of the curi presenting a contrast to the coating.

3. fr water-proof iomi-tting high gaiter hav ing an upper, the surface of which is continuous and free from pockets or openings except for a top foot inserting opening, said upper being composed of a vamp portion integrally united with a combined heel and leg portion, said upper being composed throughout of an elastic knit fabric lining having a relatively thin calender coating of a highly elastic rubber superficially united thereto by the calender-ing operation, saidrubber forming the outer of the gaiter, and the Wales or ribs of the fabric extending vertically in said heel and leg portion and substantially longitudinally in said vamp portion.

HENRIETTA PORR IiANimLLE.

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